MacroPolis

Economic sentiment

Greece’s economic sentiment had a solid rebound in March, rising to 108.4 points, from 104.9 points in the previous month. This is the highest sentiment since August last year. Consumer confidence also recovered to -44.7, from -47.2 points before, however, on a 12-month rolling basis consumer confidence is unchanged. Industry confidence returned to positive ground at 4.8 points, from -4.2 points in the previous month. The services index increased by 2 points to 39.2. Retail trade dropped sharply by 14.5 points to 3.1, now down by over 20 points from April last year. Construction confidence remained in positive territory at 8.9, now positive over six months.

Credit

Credit expansion picked up pace slightly in February, rising by 3.8 pct year-on-year (YoY), up from 3 percent in January. The net lending flow was positive by 849 million euros after a negative movement by 2.73 billion euros in January, with a mixed flows picture in the last few months. The outstanding balance was broadly stable at 115.53 billion euros. Credit growth was led by business loans, with the corporate lending balance’s net monthly flow positive by 924 million euros, after a drop of 2.51 billion euros in January. 

Deposits

Private sector deposits contracted further in February with a drop of 1.07 billion euros, after a 5.24 billion euros drop in January. The annual growth in February was 3 pct year on year (YoY), from 2.7 pct in the preceding month. The outstanding balance of private sector deposits in February stood at 188.61 billion euros, reflecting corporate deposits of 44.11 billion euros and household deposits of 144.5 billion euros.